I stared motionlessly as the giant ugly castle marched up to me. The ground shook and there was a low rumbling noise. Finally the castle stopped in front of me and emitted fire and smoke from its so-called chimneys before settling down.
Turnip Head impatiently jumped around me and I was left saying "Wut!" I couldn't believe me eyes. Was the castle expecting me to come in and join it?
"There is no way am I going in that scary creepy thing" I said to Turnip Head.
The castle had taken it as an offence and stood up again. I walked a few paces back as the castle swept past me. I had a feeling it was angry at me. I turned my head and saw a small wooden door at the backside of the castle. Turnip Head jumped at the door then back at me.
"Do you want me to go in there?" I asked it softly as the castle moved far away. Turnip Head jumped twice. I was gonna say no when a strong gust of wind made me shiver. I hugged myself tightly.
"It's better than dying out here" I said to myself and then called to the castle "hey wait up!"
I ran towards it as its pace slowed down. I still felt weak but I ran as fast as my weak legs could carry me. Finally I leapt at the door and held the knob tightly. I turned back to Turnip Head who was jumping a little way behind and waved at him.
"So long!" I cried "thanks for your help."
I turned to the door knob where my shivering hand rested. I sighed and reassured myself, "Howl won't want my heart. He goes for pretty girls only."
I opened the door but surprisingly it didn't budged. I pushed it but still it didn't moved. "Open up!" I ordered it as I pushed it hard. Suddenly it flew open and I landed inside on the stairs. I immediately got up and saw a tall young fellow near twenty peering at me.
He had a long angular face with glass green eyes that were unusually light. He wore flamboyant blue and silver suit and his face was perplexed. He brushed his fair blonde hair from his face.
"Were you the one trying to shut the door at me?" I demanded. He looked at me before protesting "no! You were the one trying to push the door down to get in."
"I was not" I snapped as I tried standing up. He offered me his hand but I rejected. I still don't know him.
He went red in face and walked upstairs saying, "I'll see how you manage then."
"How rude!" I said to myself as I gripped the edges of the stairs and stood up. Slowly I walked upstairs. When I reached the main room, the fellow was nowhere to be seen.
"He must've gone upstairs" I said noticing the stairs that went up. The castle was quiet from inside. There were no noises and it didn't feel like we were moving at all. It was all magical inside. I turned around and examined the dirty room. There was a table in a corner stacked with books and scribbled notes. On the walls, many ugly colored potions rested. I don't want to know what they are. I noticed a fire burning in the hearth and quickly went to warm myself up. I pulled a chair from the side and sat on it in front of the fire.
Taking a deep breathe, I recalled everything that I had faced. I thought about the fellow. I wondered who he was. Not Howl, I hope.
I stared at the fire and thought about my family. At this, I suddenly burst out crying. I hid my face in my hands and cried. All my wounds started hurting again.
"Oh my," I heard a croaky high pitched voice "I haven't met such a pretty girl in my whole life."
My face immediately looked up petrified at the thought that someone talked to me. I rubbed my tears away and feasted the scene I was facing. In the hearth was a burning fire. In the fire was a burning face. And the face was talking.
I almost fainted before asking "who are you?"
The fire looked at me in a strange way and said thoughtfully, "most of the girls are halfway across the town by now."
I stared at he mouth as it spoke. It had a tongue. "You-speak" I whispered.
"So I do!" the fire yelled with pride "all demons do."
"Demon?" I whispered my eyes widened with fear.
"Yess!" the fire hissed "Calcifer the fire demon!"
"Are you-"
Calcifer interrupted "yes! I move this castle 24 hours a day 365 days a year. I'm cursed."
"A demon-cursed" I broke into giggles.
"You should be thankful I let you in" he snarled at me, his flamed blazing up. Then I subsided my giggles.
"How come a demon is working as a slave?" I asked him.
"Duh!" he said as if it didn't mattered "magic can get you anything."
Then the fire looked carefully at me and opened his mouth in surprise.
"You- you are an inhuman!" he cried.
"Me? Inhuman?" I joked "you are the one inhuman here."
"No you really are" he said. I was getting irritated by the inhuman talk which I knew was a lie so I changed the topic.
"What were you saying about being cursed?" I asked.
"Humph!" he said wistfully "it's Howl. We both have a bargain and that bargain keeps me stuck here. I work as his slave."
"Is that so?" I asked thoughtfully. I did not liked the idea of being stuck up in a hearth forever.
"Can you break the bargain?" he asked hopefully.
"How?" I demanded. "I can't tell you that" he said and shook his head "it comes with the bargain."
"Yeah-sure" I muttered "good luck then!"
Calcifer opened his mouth then he stopped at stared at me.
"Is that blood you have on your face?" he asked.
"Yes" I replied touching my scars.
"You need them stitched up" he informed me, leaning in to have a better look "I think Howl would do this."
"What!" I cried jumping up from my chair "Howl? No thanks!"
"C'mon" Calcifer insisted "you are losing blood. At this rate you'll die."
"I'd rather than having Howl treating my wounds" I muttered.
"Sure" Calcifer said and then he screamed "HEY HOWL! GET DOWN HERE YOU SLEEPY HEAD. WE HAVE A VISITOR HURT HERE!"
"SHUT UP!" I screamed finding something to throw at Calcifer.
I fished for a log nearby and threw it at him. Calcifer caught it and said "thanks. I needed one."
I held my hairs and pulled them as I sank back into the chair. I am afraid of seeing Howl.
A minute later there were noises of someone coming downstairs. I did not look up at the person. The person came closer to me and stared down at me. I peeked at him and my mouth hung open.
"You are Howl!" I cried surprised to see the person from before.
"I am aware" he said with a yawn.
"Now Calcifer" Howl turned to Calcifer "what's with waking the whole town up a this late hour?"
"It's the girl" Calcifer nodded towards me.
Howl turned his gaze and locked his eyes on me. The corner of his mouth twitched. "I am not a good host" he told me.
"After trying to keep me out in the cold," I told him "it's pretty obvious."
Howl smirked at me.
"You are hurt" he said siting down on his one knee and looked closely at me. I stared back at him. He was kind of- handsome.
After half a minute of inspection, Howl stood up and clapped his both hands together. Suddenly the jars lying on the shelves came floating towards him. He was summoning them all.
He could have just gone and get them himself, I though, so much of a drama queen he is.
I realized he was the type that got his work done by others. He brought out a small table out of nowhere and placed it in front of me. All the jars came and rested on the table.
"There" Howl said a satisfied look on his face. Then he bent down and picked up a wet piece of cloth.
He leaned closer when I shrieked "no thanks. I can do it on my own."
He seemed deaf as he did not listen to me. I tried looking away but he turned my face to him and started dabbing my wounds with the cloth. I did not moved. It felt so good, calm and hilarious. I went all red in my face.
He cleaned all me wounds from my head and turned to get the things in the jar.
"What are they?" I inquired narrowing my eyes at the strange bubbly stuff in them.
"Potions" Howl replied as he picked up one. He turned to me.
"No way!" I cried "don't you dare use potions on me."
"Jeez" Howl muttered "I said potions not poisons."
I refused to allow him use potions on me so he ended up using bandages on my wounds. It took an hour and a half to stitch them and no one said a word.
Howl looked sleepy by the time he finished and Calcifer was also asleep. He did it all pretty well.
He stood up saying "you need rest." He clapped his hands again and the potions went back to their respective places. Howl pushed the table aside and with a huge yawn he climbed upstairs. I heard him close his bedroom door before I settled back in the chair. I felt calm but very sleepy. Slowly my eyelid dropped and I fell asleep.
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